Monday, September 17, 2007

I was leafing through a local fashion magazine when something familiar caught my eye. There it was, hanging across the bare chest of a young, sassy-looking model named Jake Cuenca was a bearbrick (see Bench Underwear print ad below)!

I knew, of course, that there existed no such bear on a chain, and closer scrutiny proved that it was a fake! The rounded hands and feet, the big ears, and the small ribcage were clear indications. Check out my earlier post,'The Case of the Bogus Be@rbrick / Part 1', for other telltale signs.

Lately, bootleg bearbricks like these seem to be proliferating – I've seen quite a few attached to manbags, keychains and even mobile phone straps!

Don't get me wrong, I don't detest these little imitations. In fact, they're not at all bad-looking. But a fake is still a fake. There's no thrill in owning one, if you ask me. :-)

At the topmost left is the original Series 1 U.S. Flag Be@rbrick, which I shot against a map of the New York City subway system. It was one of the first bears I bought. Back then, I was still clueless about fakes – so I guess I was lucky it was for real.

I recently bought a bearbrick on eBay and when i set it down next to my others, i noticed that it was actually a few millimeters smaller. The legs and arms were noticeably shorter. Both are 100%. I was worried I was sold a fake. Any experience with these? Could I have been fooled??